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How the Work-First Idea Eroded College Access for the Poor
Russell Sage Foundation
October 2009
On Sale: October 1, 2009
216 pages ISBN: 0871547767 EAN: 9780871547767 Paperback
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Non-Fiction
Today, a college education is increasingly viewed as the
gateway to the American Dream—a necessary prerequisite for
social mobility. Yet recent policy reforms in the United
States effectively steer former welfare recipients away from
an education that could further their career prospects,
forcing them directly into the workforce where they often
find only low-paying jobs with little opportunity for
growth. In Putting Poor People to Work, Kathleen
Shaw, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Christopher Mazzeo, and Jerry A.
Jacobs explore this troubling disconnect between the
principles of “work-first” and “college for all.”
Using comprehensive interviews with government officials
and sophisticated data from six states over a four year
period, Putting Poor People to Work shows how
recent changes in public policy have reduced the quantity
and quality of education and training available to adults
with low incomes. The authors analyze how two policies
encouraging work—the federal welfare reform law of 1996 and
the Workforce Investment Act of 1998—have made moving people
off of public assistance as soon as possible, with little
regard to their long-term career prospects, a government
priority. Putting Poor People to Work shows that
since the passage of these “work-first” laws, not only are
fewer low-income individuals pursuing postsecondary
education, but when they do, they are increasingly directed
towards the most ineffective, short-term forms of training,
rather than higher-quality college-level education.
Moreover, the schools most able and ready to serve poor
adults—the community colleges—are deterred by these policies
from doing so.
Having a competitive, agile workforce that can compete
with any in the world is a national priority. In a global
economy where skills are paramount, that goal requires broad
popular access to education and training. Putting Poor
People to Work shows how current U.S. policy
discourages poor Americans from seeking out a college
education, stranding them in jobs with little potential for
growth. This important new book makes a powerful argument
for a shift in national priorities that would encourage the
poor to embrace both work and education, rather than having
to choose between the two.
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